UNOTIL

Daily Media Review

Compiled by the Public Information Office from national and international sources

Daily Media Review

Friday 05 August 2005

Horta: UN Rejects International Tribunal

Timor-Leste Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta told the media, "none of the members of the UN Security Council accepts the establishment of an International Tribunal to try the suspects of 1999 mayhem. He further said that the UN Security Council also does not have any measures to pressure Indonesia to bring those responsible to trial. Minister Ramos-Horta made the above comment following his meeting with members of the Truth and Friendship Commission, Prime Minister Alkatiri and President Gusmão at the Palace of Ashes on Thursday reported STL. He raised the issue of whether Indonesian military personnel would ever come to Timor-Leste to face trial. He reminded the people of Timor-Leste of the need for patience and to take one step at a time in the same way Timor-Leste achieved independence. STL also quoted Minister Horta as saying that "there will be justice but not through an international tribunal, it could be through Timorese traditional justice and that justice should be achieved through truth". (STL)

De Sousa: Council of Minister Approved Timor Gap Treaty

Secretary of State for the Council of Ministers, Gregorio de Sousa confirmed and clarified that in the first meeting of the Council of Minister on Thursday since the government reshuffle, the Council of Ministers approved the Timor Gap Treaty, code of extraction for the Joint Petroleum Development Area to regulate permanent oil activities and contract details regarding product distribution (STL, Diario Nacional )

Monteiro: Corruption in the Prime Minister's Cabinet

Timor-Leste's Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro said his office has already received 6 complaints of corruption, three from the Prime Minister's Cabinet and three from the Inspector-General. " I personally received the complaints from the Prime Minister's Cabinet and the Inspector-General, and they all involve corruption (?)," Monteiro said that four cases are currently under investigation while the other two remain pending as the prosecutors responsible are participating in judicial training. He said new prosecutors will be in charge of those cases. (DT) ( STL)

Timor-Leste President to visit Vietnam

East Timor's State President Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão will pay an official visit to Vietnam from Aug.8-10, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said Thursday. Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão is scheduled to meet with Vietnamese top leaders to discuss measures on boosting the two countries' relations, especially in the fields of economy and trade, the ministry's spokesman Le Dung said at a regular press briefing. The visit made at the invitation of Vietnamese president Tran Duc Luong is the first trip to Vietnam by an East Timor's president since the country was established in 2002, he added. (Thanhnien)

PNTL Officers Suspended and Dismissed

One PNTL officer has been dismissed for commission of a criminal act and smuggling goods into Timor-Leste. PNTL Commander Paulo de Fatima Martins said the PNTL officer was suspended on 7 March for taking four people from Dili to Same to physically assault a Chinese-Timorese ctizen and on 24 June was discovered to have smuggled goods from the border when he was stopped on the orders of the Liquiça police commander. Martins told the media that the six who were suspended included the BPU commander of Salele and his four officers as well as a Police officer who shot a person at a games centre in Comoro, Dili.

He also informed the media that on 2 August the police station in Salele in Suai district caught fire destroying equipment including 10 pistol cartridges and bullets. Five police officers who were supposed to be on duty at the station were suspended on 4 August as only two police officers were available to put out the fire. (DN)

Julio T. Pinto: Government should not interfere with F-FDTL and PNTL

Julio Tomas Pinto, Political and Military Observer made an appeal during a Teleconference between Dili and Malaysia at the World Bank office for the government including Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri not to interfere with matters related to security and defence institutions (PNTL and F-FDTL). STL reported Pinto as stating that the Timor-Leste government should only be involved in police policy-making and not in operational matters. Pinto went on to giving examples of interference such as the dismissal of Police or F-FDTL members. (TL)

Tuberculosis Increases in TL

The Director of Bairro Pité clinic, Dr. Dan Murphy said tuberculosis has increased in Timor-Leste, adding that levels of malaria are not as high. Murphy said the clinic consults around 300 patients every day and those in exceptionally bad health from TB are not sent home and the clinic assists them. Intensive treatment for the worse cases is provided by Kuluhun clinic (DN)